Truth
by rgs38
Summary: Some one-shots set after "One Wrong Move" mostly revolving around Wordy and Ed as they tell their family of Lou's death. Going to be mainly Wordy/Shelly and Wordy/Daughter interactions and Ed/Clark. Some cursing obviously talk of death, spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

Truth

_So I've had this idea for a while, basically since I've been spending so much time writing my post "One Wrong Move" stories for Sam and Spike. This is more of two one-shots on the same topic, so I'm putting them together. Sorry if that's confusing, basically one chapter will be Wordy, one chapter will be Ed. By the way, though there are some ideas taken from my other stories, these are independent of them...wow, I'm just being really confusing this morning. Okay, so my Spike story, "Nothing's Broken" and my Sam story "Shooting at Shadows" intersected, that isn't the case for these, they're just one-shots. I'm just going to write it and you'll figure it out. So tell me what you think, I still don't own Flashpoint. _

He just wanted to get home, to feel safe again, to see his girls and ground himself in reality...at least in _that_ reality because right now everything hurt too much for him to stay sane in the outside world. He felt like life was caving in on him and as he drove down the quiet suburban streets he half expected to see the things collapsing, the carefully constructed life and the second family that they had built was shattered forever. He nearly jumped out of his car and ran into his home as he locked the door behind him as quietly as possible. It was nearly 2 AM and he didn't want to wake his family and beckon them into this new life so soon.

He didn't take off his shoes or put down his bag as he went directly up the stairs, ignoring the small voice in his head saying that Shelly probably left dinner out for him, he couldn't eat now. He looked at the closed wooden doors in the hallway and slowly opened the one on his far right as he looked in on his two youngest daughters. Danielle was curled up in a little ball under her pink fluffy blankets, her head barely peeking out from under them as she rested, surrounded by stuffed animals. Ally laid similarly in her new 'big girl bed,' the side rails up to keep her safe. Wordy didn't step too far into their room, he knew that if one of them woke up they'd both be awake and then the entire house would be awake and he wasn't ready for that. Better to let them sleep for one more innocent night. He took some calming breaths as he backed out of the room and slowly closed the door.

He walked into the room next door and stood still as he pushed the door in. Claire laid in her bed, her blond hair over her face and her blankets kicked to one side. He entered the room and took stock, as if for the first time, the contrasting elements in the room. She had loved pink and princesses and all things girly when she was young but recently Claire had been wanting to learn more about sports and nature. The room was painted a bright purple color and the blankets were a dull pink but Claire's new, independent personality was beginning to show through as Wordy picked up a basketball that was laying on the floor and put it to the side of the room. He went to her bed and pulled the blankets up to keep her warm on the cool night. He stood over her a moment before brushing the hair from her face with his fingers. She stirred ever so slightly at his touch but quickly fell back into a deep sleep. He stood at her bed looking at his daughter, trying to stop time when Shelly appeared quietly at the doorframe.

"Kev," She whispered as tiptoed into the room. He didn't look away from his daughter as Shelly got close to him and put her hand in his. "Kevin...what's wrong?" She asked worriedly. He took a shaky breath before letting his gaze move from Claire as he shook his head subtly. It was easy to take the sign as he didn't want to wake her from her peaceful sleep but is was more the fact that he didn't want to say it. A silent tear fell from his eye as Shelly started to pull him from the room; Wordy didn't cry. He was emotional and sensitive but crying was an entirely different entity and it worried Shelly. It took a few minutes for her to coerce him out of Claire's room and into their room and as soon as the door was closed she looked at his tired face and sunken eyes.

He dropped his bag and sat on the edge of the bed starring off at the wall in front of him with a hard face. Silent tears still came to his eyes as he took controlled, even breaths. Shelly sat next to him and gently pulled him into a hug, one arm around his broad shoulders the other stroking his arm. She wasn't sure what was wrong, Winnie had called earlier in the day to tell her that the team was held up on a call and would be late but she didn't give any other details. Shelly had waited up as long as she could but 2 AM was pushing it when she needed to have the girls up by 7 in order to get Claire and Danielle ready for school but when she saw Wordy in his condition she knew something was very wrong.

"Kevin...going on?" Shelly whispered softly in his ear. She knew that he was thinking and she didn't want to interrupt but she was really worried about the fact that he hadn't said anything. He took more calm and controlled breaths as he kept his gaze straight ahead, he didn't want to talk about it, he didn't want his wife to feel the pain that he was in. She sat next to him for another few minutes before standing and moving in front of him, kneeling on the floor to find his teary eyes. "Kevin..." She asked as his eyes found her's and the tears came readily. For the first time that night he lost control of his breath and a ragged sob got stuck in his throat. He closed his eyes for a minute before he worked up enough composure to speak.

"You hear about the bomb scares?" He asked in a choked whisper. She nodded but he didn't wait for a response before continuing. "We...there..." He took a deep breath as his breaths became ragged and he was losing his composure. "Lou stepped on a land-mine." He said as the uncontrollable sobs finally escaped. He put his head in his hands and he tried to quietly control his tears. Shelly's hands were stroking his head and back as she tried to comfort him the best she could. Tears were falling from her eyes as she hugged her husband and whispered soothing assurances in his ear. They stayed like that for a long time, the sun was peeking through the blinds before Wordy realized that his tears had slowed. He took a few deep breaths to compose himself before looking up at Shelly's face. He ran a hand down her face gently, brushing a tear from her eye as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. They sat in silence for a moment before Shelly spoke.

"Go to sleep. We'll figure out the rest when you wake up. Sleep." She said as she untied his shoes and gently put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back in bed. He nodded, exhaustion suddenly overcoming him as his head hit the pillow.

"But-" He started to protest. There was so much he needed to do, to think about, to say before a new day came and ushered in, with the new light, a new reality for them to unwillingly live under. Shelly was firm though, she kept her hands resting on his shoulders and leaned over, kissing his forehead before standing.

"Sleep. You need it, Kevin." She said as he eventually relented and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

He woke up to the sounds of quiet laughing by his bed as he slowly opened his eyes against the bright light peeking through the blinds. As he rolled onto his side he saw Danielle and Ally giggling at his bedside, trying and failing to stay quiet.

"Shhhh," Danielle whispered to Alley. "Mommy said not to wake Daddy up." Wordy tapped Danielle's shoulder and she jumped for a minute before turning with a guilty face. "Sorry Daddy." She said with big innocent eyes.

"It's okay sweetie." He said as he looked at the clock beside the bed, it was almost 3 PM. He felt a pang of overwhelming sadness as he remembered his new reality and his face must have shown it because Danielle looked confused.

"Daddy...?" She seemed to ask as she looked at him with those big blue eyes.

"Yeah sweetie?" He said as he held back a tear that threatened to break free from his eye. He sat up in the bed and patted the edge as he helped them climb up. They leaned on him, one on each side as he sat there and stroked their hair.

"Why didn't you get into your pajamas before you went to bed?" Dani asked as she saw that he was still in jeans and a t-shirt. "That was silly." She said as she looked up at his face. He thought for a moment before responding.

"Yeah, that was very silly of me." He said with what he hoped looked like a smile. He heard footsteps on the stairs as Shelly came into the room.

"Girls, I told you not to come in here while Daddy was sleeping." She said with a firm face.

"We're sorry Mommy." Danielle said as Ally tried to say 'sorry,' she still had some trouble with the 's' sound. She nodded and looked carefully at Wordy. Though he still looked haggard and sad he seemed to be in a much better place than the night before. "Alright girls, let's let Daddy take a shower and get dressed." She said as she helped them out of the bed. They ran to their room as Shelly sat on the edge of the bed next to Wordy.

"Are you okay honey?" He asked her as she gave him a slightly exasperated look. She loved Wordy because he cared so much, but it was almost to a fault. He always cared so much for other people's needs and feelings that he disregarded his own to the point of neglect. He would spend so much time trying to help others but when it came to his own needs he wouldn't address them until he reached a point of explosion.

"I'm doing okay." She said she looked at him with a genuine expression. "How are you feeling?" She asked with a sympathetic face. He looked at her for a moment, biting his lip, not sure what to say.

"I...I don't know." He said before shaking his head slightly. "I don't want to move on yet." He said as he looked off a bit over her shoulder. She nodded and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I've got to get Claire off the bus. I'll bring the girls with me." She said as she got up and looked at her husband. "Take a shower and change your clothes, it'll help." She said with a bit of a smile. "Oh, and make sure to call Greg. I get the feeling he's been making the rounds since nine this morning because he's calling pretty much like clockwork every two hours." She said as they both smiled and he nodded. She closed the door and he sat in bed until he heard tiny footsteps running down the stairs and the front door being locked from the outside.

He took deep breaths as he tried to work up the energy and motivation to take the blankets off and swing his legs over the bed. _Come on Wordy,_ He encouraged himself. _Let's go, time to move now._ He lifted his arms and got himself out of bed before peeling off his shirt and watch. He walked over to the bathroom, kicking off his socks and jeans on the way. He stood in front of the mirror and looked at his face. Though to anyone else he wouldn't have looked much different from the day prior he was able to see a difference. His eyes seemed darker, more defined and sunken in their sockets. The blue iris was exceptionally bright, almost to the point of not looking real, something that only happened when he cried. There were lines around his mouth that he didn't think were usually there, but as he splashed his face with cold water he seemed to awaken to his breath. He looked down and saw his chest rising and falling in rhythm with his heartbeat.

He shook his head and started the water in the shower, stepping into the cool stream. The water beat against his chest, stinging the skin under the firm stream. He stood under the water and took heavy breaths as water dripped down his face. He tried to hold back but the hot, salty tears from his eyes mixed with the cool water as it washed away some of his tension, some, but not nearly enough, of his sadness. He stood under the stream for a bit longer before stepping out of the shower and wrapping himself in a towel. He opened his drawers and didn't really look at what he was taking out. He took the top, black t-shirt from his drawer and a pair of light jeans. He was putting on his belt as he heard the front door open again and three little voices speaking. He took a few deep breaths before opening the door to their room and walking downstairs with a small smile on his face.

"Hey girls!" He said energetically as he walked into the kitchen to be nearly run down by three strong hugs.

"Daddy! Daddy!" They yelled, happy to see him early in the afternoon. He didn't get to spend much time with his family and he loved the precious moments he got to spend with them. Though he was taking solace in the idea of a full week off to live with his family he wasn't looking forward to the inevitable conversation that he was going to be having with them. Wordy sat at the table with Claire and helped her with her homework as Shelly finished making dinner. Wordy kept wanting to put off the talk but Shelly eventually convinced him to gather the girls and sit them on the couch after dinner. They had been playing in Danielle and Ally's room when he interrupted them.

"Hey, what are you guys playing?" He asked as he leaned in the doorframe and looked at the three girls on the floor with legos.

"We're building a castle, Daddy? Do you want to play with us?" Claire asked hopefully, loving the time Wordy had already spent with them.

"I'd love to princess but Mommy and I need to talk to you girls, can you come downstairs for a little while and maybe later we can play?" He asked with a slight smile. Claire and Danielle looked a little confused as they got up and Wordy went over and picked up Ally.

"Are we in trouble?" Claire asked as she sat down on the couch.

"No," Wordy said firmly as he sat and placed Ally on his lap. "no you girls aren't in any trouble at all." He looked up as Shelly came into the room and sat on the couch next to Claire. Wordy took a few deep breaths to calm himself before he started speaking. "I wanted to talk to you girls because," He trailed off for a bit as he tried to think of the right words, all of them sounding too harsh in his mind. "well yesterday when Daddy was at work something very very sad happened." He said as he took a breath to steady himself. Danielle's big blue eyes starred at him as he continued. "We were trying to protect a lot of people from getting hurt but..." he took a deep breath as a tear came to his eye. "but Uncle Lou got hurt really badly and he died." He gave himself a moment to breath as he looked up at Shelly. A tear was in her eye but she nodded to continue. Claire looked like she'd understood the news and was starting to cry. Danielle looked from Wordy to Claire to Shelly with a questioning look on her face.

"What does that mean?" She asked with those big innocent eyes. Wordy bit his lip for a moment before he continued.

"Well..." He thought for a moment, not wanting to rush into this. He knew very well what not to say but he tried to think of a way to not be blunt. "When someone dies they...they don't eat or breath or think or feel anything." Wordy said as a choked sob came out of his mouth. He was bouncing Ally on his knee as tears came more readily to his face. Claire was crying now but trying to stay quiet as Shelly soothed her.

"I...I don't understand." Danielle said as she started to cry also, partly because she saw everyone else crying and partly because she didn't know what was wrong. Wordy rubbed a hand through his short hair as he thought of a new way to approach the topic.

"Honey," He said to get her attention before she started full-fledged bawling. "Do you remember when we had Goldie?" He asked. He thought back to last summer when the girls had begged for a pet. They wanted a dog (he really did also but Shelly was vehemently opposed) but they settled on a goldfish. They were given most of the responsibility, turning on the filter and light and feeding it, but it seemed that all the girls thought it was their job to feed it copious amounts of food. It had died and, though Wordy and Shelly had used the experience to teach the girls about death, they didn't push the issue. She nodded as Wordy wiped a tear from her eye. "And you remember how one day she just stopped swimming and didn't eat or breath?" He asked and she nodded again, beginning to understand the significance of what he was saying. Wordy was trying hard to hold back tears, he wanted to remain strong in front of his girls but he was starting to lose control. Shelly took over, sensing that Wordy needed a moment.

"Dani, sweetie. Uncle Lou isn't alive anymore." She said as renewed tears came to Claire's eyes and Danielle developed fresh tears of understanding. "And it's okay to be sad about that, Daddy and me are very sad," She said as she glanced at Wordy. "but you need to try to remember all the happy times you had with Uncle Lou, okay?" She asked as Danielle nodded in understanding and leaned against Wordy to cry into his shirt.

"Claire, are you okay princess?" He asked in a soft tone. Claire hadn't really said anything but she was obviously very upset. She didn't say anything, she just nodded her head before burying her face into Shelly's stomach and crying. Wordy nodded as he felt another pang of guilt for bringing this pain onto his family. He hugged Ally, who was generally confused sitting on his lap and seeing everyone crying. "You girls don't have to go to school tomorrow if you don't want to." He said as he wiped his face on the sleeve of his shirt. "And on Friday Mommy and I are going to go to Uncle Lou's funeral and you girls can come too if you want. Funerals are when we can say goodbye to people who die." He explained to Danielle. He took a few breaths before making his decision to finish the conversation. "You know, I really want an ice cream sundae." He said as Ally and Danielle looked up at him. "What do you say we go make some?" He asked as he forced a smile on his face.

"With gummy bears?" Dani asked as she sniffled her nose. He grabbed a tissue and held it up to her face.

"Blow," He instructed as he held the tissue. When she finished he looked at her. "I think we can find some gummy bears, but only a few." He added as she gave him a sad smile beyond her years. He put Ally down and gave Dani a hug before lifting her from the couch. "You want a sundae Claire?" He asked as he moved over and rubbed her back for a moment. He heard a muffled 'yes' from Shelly's stomach as she nodded for him to give them a minute. Wordy stood and wiped his face as he went into the kitchen and started to take bowls out of the cabinet. He had just finished Dani's sundae (chocolate ice cream with syrup, gummy bears, and whipped cream) and was moving onto Ally's when the phone rang. The instant he heard the ring he felt his heart drop as he remembered the one thing he was supposed to do after his shower. A glance at the caller ID confirmed his suspicions.

"Greg, I'm so sorry I didn't call. Shelly told me that you'd been calling and it just slipped my mind, I'm so sorry." He said as he held the phone close to his ear.

"It's fine Wordy, I'm sure you had a lot of deal with on the home-front." Greg said genuinely, releasing Wordy from a little bit of his guilt. "How are you doing?" He asked seriously.

"I'm...it's still kind of raw." Wordy said as he scooped out a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

"I hear you." Greg said in an understanding tone. "But it's okay for the emotions to be raw and fresh...it feels like it was a long time ago, I know, but it only happened yesterday." Greg tried to give him a little perspective.

"I know." Wordy said sadly as he sprinkled oreos onto Ally's sundae. "Here you go cupcake. Don't eat too fast or your head will hurt again." He warned as he placed the ice cream in front of Ally. Dani had already turned her entire mouth brown with chocolate. "Sorry Boss," He said as he told Dani to wipe her mouth. "We ah...we just told the girls..." He trailed off but he could almost see Greg nodding at the other end of the line.

"How are they doing?" He asked sympathetically.

"Well, Ally doesn't really understand...two years old, it's tough to explain that sort of thing." He said slightly pained. "Dani didn't really understand at first but I think she gets it now." He said as he ruffled Danielle's hair jokingly. "Claire's taking it kind of hard." He said as he listened to her crying in the family room. "But we're making some ice cream sundaes and then maybe we'll watch a movie." He tried to sound a bit more cheery but there was a hint of pain in his voice.

"Sounds like a good night." Greg said as he paused for a moment. "Well I'll let you go finish your sundaes. Call me if you need anything, Wordy. Anything, I mean if you don't know what to say to Claire or if Shelly wants to talk, especially if you want to talk, anything Wordy." Greg said firmly.

"You got it Boss." He said as he hung up the phone and smiled at Claire came into the room, her eyes still teary. "Perfect timing princess." He said as he went to the freezer. "Chocolate or Vanilla?"

_That turned out longer than I thought it would be, I wasn't sure if I'd actually write the conversation with the girls or I would just jump to after. So this is done but I'm debating something and I might come back to this idea after I write my Ed story. Again, this is a series of one-shots on a the same topic of post "One Wrong Move." I don't know why I feel the need to clarify that, but I do. Tell me what you think, I actually had a lot of trouble with this one considering how much I was itching to write it, I just wasn't sure what Wordy would say exactly and I ended up questioning myself a lot. Tell me what you think. I'm going to try to write the Ed/Clark counterpart of this tonight but it might not be posted until tomorrow. _


	2. Chapter 2

Truth-Chapter 2

_Continuing my little string of post "One Wrong Move" one-shots. Tell me what you think so far. This one is going to Ed/Clark-centric. I love writing Clark so much, I'm not really limited by anything in the show since they basically never give him speaking roles. I might have one more Wordy chapter in my after this. Thanks for the reviews I'm sure I'll get. Oh, and incase you forgot, I still don't own Flashpoint. _

Ed walked into his home swiftly and quietly as he turned on his heels and locked his front door with slightly shaking hands. After double checking that he was shielded from the intrusions of the outside world, he turned and leaned against the oak door taking deep breaths. He didn't want to think, didn't want to feel or remember anything from the day they'd had. He stood in the darkness of the hallway and waited for his eyes to adjust as he perked his ears. It was nearly 2 AM and he didn't think anyone in the house would be awake but he thought that he heard muffled music from the upstairs. He dropped his bag by the door and slowly mounted the stairs. It seemed to take forever as he climbed the fright and saw a small crack of light from below Clark's door.

He remembered when he would come home after long days years ago and he would see the same sliver of light from beneath his door. Clark would always try to wait up for his father. Ed would sometimes walk in at midnight to see his eight year old son under the covers with a flashlight and a book. Most times Ed would find him asleep but not for lack of trying, a book or game usually fallen from his hands. He smiled at the memories but he knew that those days were long gone. Clark was not waiting up for him, he'd been disappointed too many times and had moved on with a greater understanding of his father and the nature of his job. Ed knocked gently on the door knowing that Sophie was most likely asleep and hoping that Clark would have also gone to bed. He heard a muffled voice from inside of the room and opened the door a crack. Clark was at his desk surrounded by large textbooks and notebooks. When he saw Ed's face, anger flashed through his eyes briefly but then his expression softened a bit.

"Clark, it's 2 AM, what are you doing up?" Ed said as he stepped into the room and closed the door. He moved over to the speakers which quietly played a string quartet and turned down the volume.

"I've got a chemistry project due tomorrow. I was fixing it up all night and then I had to study for calculus." He said as he motioned toward a contraption of wood, foil, and metal. Ed stepped a bit closer.

"What's this?" He asked. He tried to take on a tone of curiosity but exhaustion and emotion were evident in his voice. Clark looked at his father critically before spinning in his chair to face him.

"It's a mock up of Rutherford's Gold-Foil experiment. It was a revolutionary step in disproving the Plum Pudding model and furthering knowledge of the atomic structure and nucleus." Clark smiled a bit as he explained his project. Ed looked a bit confused but still interested in what was being said.

"Gold foil and plum pudding..." He nodded his head as he smiled. "I was never really a science person." He said as he sat on Clark's bed and faced him. Silence came between them as Clark took a deep breath.

"What the hell, Dad?" He asked angrily, surprising his father. Ed was about to point out the use of language when Clark continued. "We see on the news that there's an explosion and SRU teams are on the scene, then we get a call from Winnie saying you'll be late, and then nothing? You don't call, we're watching the news and there's rumors that people are hurt and at 2 AM you just come in here like nothing's happened!" Clark had tried to keep his temper under control but his voice was rising as he yelled at his father.

"Clark-" Ed started before his son shook his head to signal that he wasn't finished.

"You know what the worst part is, Dad?" He nearly spat the last word with resentment. "The fact that Mom was freaking out and the only thing that I could think to comfort her with was the fact that if you were hurt someone would have at least called us." He took a few breaths before finishing quietly. "That's not right Dad." Tears had come to his eyes. "I guess it's something really bad and I know that it's probably tough for you...but it's not fair for you to do that to us." Clark finished as a tear rolled from his eye.

Ed was in shock. He knew that his job had taken a big toll on his family life; he knew that Sophie and Clark had moments when they resented his job and resented him for picking his job over his family but he didn't realize how much pain they went through because of him. The tears that had been threatening all day were coming up again as he took breaths to control his emotion. Clark's expression had softened a bit as he realized that something was seriously bothering Ed. Though he wasn't crying he was more emotional than usual just in his body language.

"Dad...w...why didn't you call?" He asked quietly as he began to realize the seriousness of the situation. Ed took a few more deep breaths before looking up at his son with a pained face.

"You're right, I should have called you; it was really unfair to you guys and I'm really sorry." Clark nodded forgetting his previous anger and more interested in what had happened to make his father look so vulnerable. "That call we were on, there were three bombs." He started explaining as his voice grew heavier with emotion. "First one went off with no injuries. Spike was in the middle of defusing the second one when we got the location of the third." He took another few breaths before continuing. "Lou was going out to diffuse the third when..." Ed paused for a moment and looked at his son, his fifteen year old son who acted like he was an adult. He patted the bed in a motion for Clark to sit next to him and changed his tone of voice. "Clark," He said as he moved and sat next to him on the bed. "Lou wanted to try and diffuse the bomb but he stepped on a land mine that was hidden near it." Ed felt Clark's muscles tense next to him and saw his expression freeze before tears started to come to his eyes. "I'm sorry buddy." Ed said as he draped his arm across Clark's shoulders and used his hand to squeeze his upper arm.

Clark was breathing heavily, trying to hold back tears and be strong but it was obvious that he wanted to cry. Ed was much the same, carefully controlling his breathing as he tried hard to hold back the impending tears. They sat in silence for a few minutes, both breathing and thinking.

"I'm sorry." Clark said quietly as he took deep breaths. "I...I didn't mean to lose my temper. I...I didn't know." His voice was cracking as sobs started to rise in his throat. Ed pulled him into a hug as tears fell from his eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's okay, buddy." Ed said in a comforting voice, his own tears rising as he pulled Clark into his chest. They both cried quietly as Ed finally let go and shed his tears. They stayed, mutually soothing each other until Ed felt the exhaustion in every inch of his body. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was well past 3 AM. He straightened his back a little bit and patted Clark's shoulder. He sat up and looked away from his father, hiding his puffy, bloodshot eyes.

"Go to bed buddy. We'll talk more in the morning if you want. You don't have to go to school tomorrow." Ed said as he squeezed Clark's shoulder. His eyes lingered over his project before he spoke.

"Are..." Clark's voice was horse as he cleared his throat and tried again. "Are you going in tomorrow?" He turned his head more in the direction of his father but still didn't look at him.

"No." Ed responded. "Why?"

"I...I don't want to let my group down." He said as he nodded towards his project. "I have chemistry after lunch...do you think you'd be able to drive me in to drop off the model?" He asked with a shaky voice.

"Yeah, that'll be fine." Ed said with a slight smile. "Get some sleep, okay?" He stood and lingered over the model for a minute. "This is a really nice job." He said as he looked at the craftsmanship. Clark let a modest smile slip to his lips.

"Thanks, Dad."

"You okay?" Ed asked as he stood in front of his son. Clark waited a moment before responding.

"I don't know." He said honestly as he met his father's eyes. "I...I just don't know...there's just...there's just a lot of stuff." He said as he put his head in his hands. Ed nodded.

"I know exactly what you mean, buddy." Ed pulled him into another hug before walking to the door. "Try to get some sleep, things will be clearer in the morning." Ed opened the door and stood in the hall before moving.

"I love you Clark. Remember that."

"I know Dad, love you too."

_Funny, I thought that one would be a lot longer, that my Wordy story would be a lot shorter, I just can't get it right lately. I really want to go for a run right now but it's February and I've just barely recovered from all my injuries. So antsy! For some reason whenever I write Wordy and Ed specifically, I really want to run. I should probably look into that. Okay, enough of a rant. Review please and stay tuned for a bit of a follow up to the Wordy chapter. _


	3. Chapter 3

Truth-Chapter 3

_I know, I said this would be a one-shot but the thing is they all worked really well together and I didn't want to spread them out, so sorry for misleading you. This one is going to be the last in the series so make sure you're telling me what you think. Thanks, still don't own Flashpoint. _

_ Come on, just fall asleep already!_ Wordy berated himself as he laid in bed with his eyes closed. He hadn't bothered looking at the clock, he knew that hours had passed since he'd laid down. It had been almost two weeks since Lou's funeral and he'd barely been able to sleep. Thoughts rapidly cycled through his mind as he remembered his friend and considered the alternate reality in which he was the one on the land mine. The thoughts were almost too intense and scary to acknowledge but they came to him, nonetheless, and those thoughts led to new ones about his life and family...he was really beginning to hate sleeping. He turned over onto his back as he starred that the ceiling, fully awake despite his tiering day. _Okay, come on now. _He tried to give himself a pep talk. _Nothing in my head. No thinking now, just sleep. No thinking._ He repeated the commands over in his head and was about to give up when he heard a muffled cry from a room down the hall.

He laid still for a moment to make sure his mind wasn't playing trick on him (with the little sleep he'd gotten over the past few weeks he sometimes swore he was hearing things) but he heard a bit of movement, confirming his initial guess that it was coming from Claire's room. He pulled the light blankets from his body as he slowly got out of bed trying not to wake Shelly. He inched his way out of the room and walked softly down the hallway to his eldest daughter's room. He knocked as he cracked open the door and peeked in.

"Claire? Princess, you okay?" He asked as he closed the door behind him and walked up to the bed. Claire was tightly hugging a teddy bear as tears fell from her eyes. "Claire, what's wrong, sweetheart?" Wordy asked softly as he sat on the bed next to her and pulled her into a hug. He wiped a tear from her eye as she took a few deep breaths to calm down a bit.

"I...had a...bad dream." She managed to get out before she started to cry into his chest again. He stroked her long blond hair as he softly whispered into her ear.

"Shhh. It's okay, you're awake now, it's over. Shhh." He soothed as he rocked back and forth slightly. She started to calm down after a few minutes but still hugged Wordy tightly. "Shhh, you're okay. Daddy's here. Shhh." He rocked for a few more minutes until she loosened her grasp and leaned back a bit. He helped her sit up and looked at her with a comforting expression. "Do you want me to get you a glass of water?" He asked gently as he passed her a tissue. She nodded her head before blowing her nose. "Okay, I'm going to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water for you." He said as he stood and walked towards the door. "Do you want me to turn on your outer-space lamp?" He asked as he saw the dull blue light on a dresser. She nodded again and he flipped the switch, flooding the room with the dull light of constellations and planets. "I'll be right back princess." He said as he left the door open a crack.

He quietly walked to the kitchen and filled a glass half way with cold water. He walked lightly on his way back up the stairs and popped his head in on Ally and Danielle's room to make sure they had not woken up. Satisfied that they were asleep (and a bit jealous) he knocked lightly on Claire's door before pushing it open and closing it behind him. "Here you go, sweetie." He said as he held out the glass before sitting next to her on the bed. She held the cup in both hands and took small sips of the water with shaky hands. When she'd had enough, she gave the glass back to Wordy who put it on the bedside table. Though she'd calmed down it looked like new tears were threatening. "Do you want to tell me what the bad dream was about sweetheart?" Wordy asked as he moved into a position that would allow her to lean on him. She shook her head no and put her face in his chest. He held her as she started to shake with new tears and he rubbed his hand up and down her back until it passed. "Do you want more water?" He asked as she started to calm down a bit.

"No." She said softly. Wordy nodded before tilting his head to look at her better.

"You don't have to tell me what the dream was about, princess..." He started with a comforting face. "but it might help if you do." He didn't want to push her into telling him but he knew that she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep with the mindset she was in. She took deep breaths as she looked at him with a serious face.

"Only if you promise nothing bad will happen." She said with a shaky voice. He was a bit confused by the statement but slowly nodded.

"It was just a bad dream sweetheart, nothing bad will happen because you had a dream." He said softly as he stroked circles on her back.

"You have to promise Daddy." She said with teary eyes. "Promise nothing bad will happen." She demanded. He knew that he was speaking to a six year old with a nightmare but Greg's voice popped into the back of his mind and told him to account for the unknown, not to make promises he couldn't be sure he could keep. Though he knew that he should listen to the voice in the back of his head, he looked into his daughter's glassy green eyes. "I promise, nothing bad will happen sweetie." She waited a moment before nodding and sniffling her nose.

"I...I had a bad dream about..." tears came to her eyes and Wordy gave her the water again. She took a few sips and calmed down before continuing. "I had a bad dream about you dying at work like Uncle Lou did." She nearly spat out the last sentence as she buried her face in Wordy's shirt and cried again.

He sat in shock for a moment, dizzied by the connections and realizations his young daughter had made. He felt tears coming to his eyes as he tightly hugged her and hoped that he could somehow absorb her pain if they stayed sitting like they were. _How the do I counter that? _He thought to himself. _I am not ready for this conversation, she's not supposed to be thinking about that yet._ He made a resolution to call Ed in the morning and see when Clark started to make those connections about their job. _How long until she starts to hate me...how long until she realizes that I hurt people...that I've killed people?_ His mind raced as he thought about the abundances of things that Claire would be realizing about him. _On topic Wordy!_ He chided himself as he stroked Claire's hair and tried to calm her down. _This is about me getting killed in the line of duty._ He froze for a minute and thought about the absurdity of his mind. _That's the easier topic to address?_ He asked himself in disbelief. He took a few deep breaths to refocus himself.

"Claire, sweetie?" He tried to get her attention as her crying calmed down a bit. "That's not going to happen." He tried to have a reassuring voice but he wasn't sure how well it came across. "What happened to Uncle Lou," He took a breath as he fought the emotions that came up. "was very very sad but it was also something that doesn't happen a lot." He fought his conscience as he tried to reassure his daughter. He knew that SRU units had a relatively high fatality rate, it was one of the hazards of the job; street cops rarely had to use their guns, SRU officers faced armed and hostile subjects everyday. He knew the statistics but Team One had thoroughly surpassed any established norm and they had fallen into a sense of security; security which was shattered when Lou died in front of them.

Claire nodded but didn't seem especially convinced of his assertions, her eyes still held insecurity and fear. "Do you know how much I love you Claire?" He said with a questioning face. She thought for a moment before smiling slightly and holding her arms out as far as she could.

"This much?" She asked as she held her arms out straight. Wordy smiled and held his arms out in the same manner.

"More than this much." He said as he stretched out and wiggled his fingers. He put his arms down and looked at his daughter. "I love you and your sisters and Mommy with all of my heart." He said as he gave Claire the glass of water again. "I love you girls so much that I always want to come home and that I always make sure that I can come home to you." He put his arm around Claire's shoulder again and pulling her into a hug. She had stopped crying as they sat quietly and looked at the stars cast by the light of the lamp. "Do you want to try to go back to sleep?" He asked as Claire yawned.

"I'm still scared." She said meekly, her eyes fluttering closed as she looked at him.

"You don't have to be scared sweetie." He paused as he pushed some hair from her face. "How about if I stay?" He asked as she started to drift off leaning on him.

"Yeah," She said softly, mostly asleep. "but you can't leave after I'm asleep. You really need to stay." She said with a small smile.

"Okay, I'll stay but you need to go to sleep." He said as he turned and put his feet up on the bed. He moved back against the headboard and got himself in a sitting position with Claire leaning on his chest. "I love you Claire." He whispered as she fell asleep on him. He took a few deep breaths as he felt his eyelids growing heavy. _You made a promise Wordy, you have to keep it now._ He thought to himself as he finally fell asleep.

_I really like the way this turned out...finally I like something I write! Do you agree? Next up is probably another one-shot, I'm debating between two ideas but this is it for this story so tell me what you think. Thanks for the reviews that I'm inevitably getting. _


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